Yeah I have to admit it probably a great idea in retrospect (prints looked nice though!).
One last question @gr5 that I was hoping to get some help with. Now that I've tried most of the suggestions above, I am now 90% certain that it is the "not enough squish" problem that i'm having (that you mentioned earlier).
I was hoping you could help me with a simple question that will hopefully help to avoid me having to do a manual calibration again - which direction do I need to turn the screws if i'd like to raise or lower the bed?

To be honest of all the options to try first I might go with the hairspray - I'm sure my girlfriend has some lying about somewhere!
Funny you should mention acetone - I actually used it not longer ago to smooth my ABS prints inside a pressure cooker. The results were actually quite good - but the process overall felt a bit unsafe!

Thanks @gr5 - I might give all of the options a try and see which one works the best
Again that you @gr5 & @kmanstudios for all of your suggestions and help!
I'm in Australia and it is virtually impossible to get any assistance here with the UM3 as there are almost no resellers/service centres locally.

Thanks @kmanstudios - again i appreciate all of the advice.
I have to admit after reading through your process I've realised that i need to get my act together.
When starting a new print my standard process is:
1. Press print
2. Close my eyes
3. Cross my fingers!
Quick question though - is the adhesive easy to clean off the bed between prints? At one stage I was printing with an XYZ and needed to apply glue with a glue stick for each print - which was a pain to clean off the glass once the print was finished.

Well i thought that the Buildtak might have been the issue, but when I tried to take it off to print without it I still had the same issue.
In the past i'd used a glue stick (with my previous printer), however I found that cleaning the glass afterwards was a pain. Plus if i had a failed print i would have to clean it all off and then reapply the glue.
Out of curiosity, do you make the solution yourself? if so do you need to make it each time or can you make a "batch" and leave it in a jar? also - how much do you use?
The one think I like about printing straight to the glass is that the prints come off so easily compared to the Buildtak.

Funny you should say that - I tried that before and had a panicked trying to remember mid-print how many times I turned each screw and which direction was up or down! I gave up because I assumed that adjusting the height for the PVA would stuff up the PLA.
I'll try the manual calibration again and try to get the card resistance exactly the same for both nozzles.
If that doesn't work ill give the screws another shot.
On another note - can I ask if you print straight onto the glass? I've been using a Buildtak sheet so that I could avoid having to use any glue etc. The great thing is is that the PLA sticks 100% of the time without curling etc. but it's a bit more of a pain to get the print off.
If you do print straight onto the glass - do you need to use glue etc?

Thanks @gr5
In response to your 1st post - the dry box i have actually has a heat function - i'll try running it at 55c for 2 hours to see if that helps (along with getting a desiccant bag).
In terms of your 2nd point - if i adjust the screws during the PVA layer - wont that affect the bed hight of the PLA layers? (which are currently printing ok)

Hello again - I've just finished the manual level and there is an improvement - however the filament still gets tangled and starts dragging accross the bed - i feel like i'm almost there but there's something else that i need to do - any ideas?
I have the printed heat for the PVA on 225 (I tried 215 and it was worse - 235 just sizzled a lot)
I've also tried lowering the print speed to 30 with no luck.
New photo below.
@Dim3nsioneer I'm printing on BuildTak - i've also tried the glass but I have the same problem.
I've triple checked the bed and i'ts level (the PLA print perfectly)

It's a UM3. I have cleaned both nozzles thoroughly before doing the auto-levelling but it still doesn't want to work....
Should i just do a manual level and not worry about the auto level?
I was hesitant to do that as I was told auto levelling was much more accurate - however this doesn't seem to be the case!

Hi everyone,
Firstly I want to say thanks to the community to help me fix a variety of problems I've been having with my UM3 recently. I've finally been able to print my PLA successfully - but I'm still having issues with my PVA layer - it just doesn't want to stick to the bed!!
I've tried slowing down the print speed, running the manual and auto bed calibration again - but nothing seems to help!
I've attached a photo of the first layer...